Just as 2006 came to a close, so too did Nortel Networks Ltd.'s sale of its UMTS radio access business to Alcatel-Lucent. The $320 million purchase closed on Dec. 31, 2006, after regulatory approvals.Approximately 1,700 of Nortel's UMTS employees moved to Alcatel-Lucent as part...
Mobile gaming in the United States will gain steady ground over the next several years even as titles get more expensive, according to new figures from IDC.The market research firm predicts the number of wireless gamers will grow more than 16 percent annually during...
Spanish triple-play telecom company Ono plans to begin a mobile virtual network operator business later this year, using the network of wireless carrier Telefonica. Ono said in a recent statement that it had reached a preliminary deal with Telefonica that would go into effect...
Orb Networks Inc. co-founder and chairman Joe Costello will take the reins as CEO of the place-shifting technology provider.Costello also currently serves as chairman of software developer think3, and spent a decade as president and CEO of Cadence Design Systems Inc. Orb has...
Changes in online handset prices keep raising questions for observers: Is the post-holiday retail model one of continued discounting to milk any lingering consumer desires to shop and spend money? Or, does the arrival of a new year offer a chance to regroup and,...
WASHINGTON-Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin appointed his wireless advisor to head the agency's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, which had lacked a permanent chief since Martin took over the agency in mid-March 2005.New WTB Chief Fred Campbell, Martin's top wireless staffer for the past year,...
The good news for mobile marketing is that advertisers can target by location, demographic and create actionable responses. The bad news? More than three-quarters of Americans are annoyed just thinking about it. That's the latest finding in a report from Forrester Research on the...
AT&T and Bell South merged Dec. 29 shortly after the Federal Communications Commission gave its final approval to the $86 billion merger and a day after two Democratic commissioners wielding unusual clout extracted major concessions to win the deal's OK.The merger unifies Cingular Wireless...
AT&T Inc. offered to surrender some of its 2.5 GHz spectrum as part of a last-ditch attempt to secure approval of its $85 billion buyout of BellSouth Corp.The telecom giant filed a letter of commitment with the Federal Communications Commission late Thursday in...
InterDigital Communications Corp. increased its share repurchase program from $200 million to $350 million.The wireless technology provider said its board voted for the move due to "strong positive cash flow" in 2006 and the anticipation of "high levels of free cash" next year. The...
Alltel Corp., the nation's fifth-largest wireless carrier, is being floated as a potential target for a leveraged buyout by private-equity firms, according to unnamed sources in an article in today's Wall Street Journal.Alltel currently has a market value of $21.7 billion and a debt...
Mdog.com is the latest player in the mobile blogging arena with a portal for mobile phones.The offering allows users of Web-enabled phones to post and read blog entries, upload photos and respond to comments on major blog services including Blogger, Wordpress, Typepad, Xanga, AOL...
Verizon Wireless is pushing their mobile music offerings by allowing users to download a free ringtone on New Year's Eve.Subscribers can text the word "tone" to short code 2007 to get instructions on how to download a free ringtone. Users can choose from a...
Wireless service provider MobilePro Corp. said a subsidiary will offer satellite video from DirecTV Group Inc. CloseCall America will initially carry DirecTV services in 14 northeastern states including New Jersey and Pennsylvania. MobilePro resells fixed-line and wireless services from Verizon Communications Inc. and...
Tired of paying fees for 411 calls, trying to get a taxi on the line at 2 a.m.? Fret not, mobile phone users. Yellowpages.com L.L.C. today announced the launch of a new send to mobile feature that allows users to send search results directly...
Leap Wireless International Inc. granted stock options to several of its executives, according to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.The company granted 116,000 non-qualified stock options and 12,500 restricted stock awards to President and CEO Douglas Hutcheson; 30,000 non-qualified stock options and...
A $2.25 billion global settlement reached between Nortel Networks Ltd. and its shareholders was given final approval in federal court this week. The parties reached the agreement earlier this year to settle a pair of shareholder lawsuits filed after the company revised its financial...
Spanish mobile content giant LaNetro Zed scratched its plans to make a bid for buffeted ringtone provider MonsterMob Group plc.LaNetro said late last week that it would spend $66 million to pick up a 53-percent stake in MonsterMob, which operates ringtone storefronts in Europe,...
Government enterprise software firm Accela Inc. reported a partnership with Nortel Networks Ltd. to deliver municipal wireless network products and services.Calif.-based Accela said its mobile inspection management application, called Accela Wireless, will be included in Nortel's muni Wi-Fi solution. Accela explained that its mobile...
Motorola Inc.'s plan to drop $200 million on broadband home equipment provider Netopia Inc. has been cleared by United States antitrust authorities. Based in Emeryville, Calif., Netopia makes wired and Wi-Fi modems, routers and gateways. The company sells to individuals, businesses and carriers, and...
Thinner, more power, less drain on a handset-no, it's not a supermodel whose New Year' resolution is giving up mobile communications. It's a new mobile memory chip produced by Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.The South Korean conglomerate announced today that its new, 1 gigabyte, mobile...
Redback Networks Inc.'s board gave L.M. Ericsson a green light to move forward with plans to buy the smaller equipment maker for about $2.1 billion, or $25 per share.Last week, Ericsson said it would pay approximately $1.9 billion for Calif.-based Redback, saying it planned...
Perhaps Santa Claus understands the Byzantine machinations of handset pricing at the major carriers, but with his work done for the year, Santa's contract calls for silence. Thus one is left to ponder the pricing gymnastics of, say, the Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. A900m...
Verizon Wireless will soon begin to allow advertising to accompany content from its official content partners, a company spokesperson said today. Verizon Wireless will become the second major U.S. carrier to carry mobile advertising, a closely watched sector that has yet to be embraced...
